The first Spring-time solar eclipse in three centuries thrilled sky-watchers across the British Isles and Europe, despite cloud cover ruining the celestial spectacle for millions of others.

It was at its most spectacular in the Faroe Islands – between Scotland and Iceland – and the Norwegian archipelago of Svalbard, where the skies were plunged into total darkness by a complete solar eclipse.

The islands were hit by a 100-mile wide ‘totality’ shadow, which swept across the North Atlantic and turned day into night for nearly three minutes at 9.46am.

Shortly beforehand the UK experienced its own ‘partial’ eclipse when the moon covered the sun’s face by up to 97 per cent in some areas, casting an ‘eerie’ twilight across the nation.

As the skies dimmed, birds went quiet before delivering a “mid-morning dawn chorus’, and temperatures fell by as much as 5c in some places.